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Planning board opens review of parking minimums and plans special meeting to update land‑use plan
Summary
Board members agreed to research changes to nonresidential parking minimums to encourage small businesses and tentatively set a special meeting (May 1) to begin work on the town land‑use plan; staff warned of pending state bills that could affect local authority.
The Sunset Beach Planning Board on April 17 opened a discussion on whether to reduce or eliminate nonresidential parking minimums in the town’s Unified Development Ordinance and agreed to begin a focused review of the 2017 land‑use plan.
Chair introduced the topic as an attempt to "liberalize our minimum parking requirements to encourage more nonresidential development," and board members discussed options including modest expansions of existing reduction allowances, right‑sizing by use category, shared‑parking agreements, or eliminating minimums entirely while maintaining safety and ADA access requirements.
Planning staff recounted experience from a Wilmington parking study that found many commercial lots underutilized and said that some cities have moved to reduce minimums or set maximums to encourage redevelopment. "We actually brought our maximums down," staff said of their prior work in Wilmington, citing environmental and infrastructure benefits such as reduced impervious surface and smaller stormwater costs.
Members noted several constraints and next steps: the town’s UDO currently allows a limited 10% reduction in certain zones; MB1 and MB2 have different front‑setback rules that affect buildability; and several state bills — including House Bill 765, which staff said includes language on parking requirements — are moving through the legislature and could change local authority. The board agreed not to indefinitely wait for state action and tasked members and staff to research options.
The board tentatively scheduled a special meeting to begin the land‑use plan update on May 1 at noon (to be confirmed) and discussed options for community engagement, including targeted surveys and in‑field outreach. Staff also reported the town helped secure GSATS funding for a separate 904 corridor transportation study that will run in parallel with the land‑use planning process.
Next steps: board members will review UDO minimums and maximums, consider narrower reductions or exemptions for particular zones or uses, and return with recommendations at a future meeting or the planned special session.
